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Managing a community of practice of French cities on participation | Les Interconnectés

Mission

Dreamocracy was put in charge for three years of managing the e-participation working group of France’s largest club of cities on digital strategies (2018-2020). The group included cities such as Grenoble, Nantes, Paris, Vincennes, Orléans, Dunkirk, and Strasbourg. The topics we dived into included such hard nuts to crack as: “How to combine the requirements of the ecological transition with the need for greater citizen involvement?”, “What will be the next frontiers for citizen involvement?”, “How to increase the commitment of all municipal services in citizen co-construction processes?”

This program was structured around four key elements of collective intelligence:

Inclusion – Expanding access for a broad public to participate in policy-making and local public decision processes.
Cognitive Diversity – Ensuring a wide range of perspectives to enhance collective intelligence and creativity.
Technology – Leveraging technological tools to support collaborative efforts.
Empathy – Encouraging understanding and connection among participants.

Each of these elements was explored through a structured methodology that participants can apply in real-world contexts. The program included webinars (live or recorded), workshops, and resource notes featuring: visual aids, transcripts of key discussions, benchmark examples of cities that have successfully implemented these methods worldwide, additional resources for further learning.

The focus was on practical learning, using real city examples for inspiration. The program culminated in a 2.5-day workshop where cities shared experiences in a peer-coaching format. Each city presented a recent initiative, its achievements, and challenges, followed by collaborative discussions on potential solutions.